These 'crop circles' began being reported in the 1970s, by farmers in their fields throughout southern England, but before long reports came in from all over the world.

After reports of strange lights in the sky around fields began being reported, many started to believe that these flattened, mostly circular formations were being created by UFOs and their inhabitants.

Circle Makers

Not always circular, crop circles come in many shapes, sizes and degrees of complexity.

It is a phenomenon that has been occurring for centuries, with it possibly being depicted in drawings made by Aboriginals from thousands of years ago, and has had the scientific community in debate over the last forty years. It is shrouded in controversy and mystery, as many sceptics now believe the enigma known as crop circles, areas of flattened crop found in fields throughout numerous countries in the world, are a man-made phenomena that were created by hoaxers and their copycats. However, there is much more to this conundrum then simply being the result of pranksters, with many still believing that there may be a supernatural cause or perhaps even being caused by a meteorological abnormality. These circles began being reported in the 1970's by farmers in their fields throughout southern England, although historians have found documentation said to show that the patterns have been occurring for decades, debunking the perception that this is a modern phenomena. At first they were singular, circular or egg-shaped depressions found in everything from fields of wheat, maize, barley and other cereals to rapeseed, sugar cane and reeds. They would be found during the daytime, and appeared to have formed overnight. After reports of strange lights in the sky around fields began being reported, many started to believe that these flattened formations were being created by UFOs and their inhabitants. Many religious and superstitious folk began sprouting the belief that the Devil had been creating the circles, fuelled perhaps by ancient folklore regarding a curse created by a scorned farmer who refused to pay a worker more money for reaping his crops. Many believed (and there are still some today) the shapes were created by Nature spirits, such as elves and Fairies, trying to communicate with humans.

Doug Bower and Dave Chorley - Circle Makers.

However, in September 1991, a pair of professional "pranksters" by the names of Doug Bower and Dave Chorley came forward and claimed a reward of 10,000 pounds from the media, openly confessing that since 1978, they had been responsible for most, if not all of the crop circles found throughout England, in the summers up until that time, and had used simple tools such as rope, surveying tape and planks of wood to create the circles. It is claimed they came forward after a number of scientists began claiming these circles couldn't be man-made. They are said to have created a simple circle in front of a group of journalists and paranormal investigators, and Bower admitted the idea started from an incident he had heard about while living in Australia in the 1960's, in which a man had claimed to have seen a UFO flying away from grassland in Tully, Queensland, and had left a circular "nest" in swamp grass. By this point, many scientists believed the circles were the result of rare meteorological events such as freak tornadoes or whirlwinds that were somehow affected by nearby hills, however this theory was dealt a blow when formations were found with straight lines between circles,and smaller circles or lines crossing or mixed with them. Then more elaborate designs were discovered, stretching miles in length and width and displaying pictures of animals, intricate geometric and complex shapes, astrological signs and magic symbols.

The 'UFO Nest' found in Tully, Queensland, that inspired the circle makers.

After the confessions of the two UK pranksters, many people believed that the whole subject was a hoax, and that copycats were emerging and creating the newly found, more sophisticated "crop formations". The case seemed to be closed on the subject, however, there are today people who are convinced that the crop circle phenomena is not entirely a case of human artistry and tomfoolery, with many claiming since the late 1990's to have witnessed these formations, whether simple or complex in design, appear in minutes or even seconds right in front of them, seemingly created by the hands of an invisible force or forces!

Human hands can make some quite complicated designs though many believe something 'alien' is responsible.

While it cannot be denied that many of these patterns and designs are the work of humans, with some being created for companies and corporations to advertise themselves, there are a large number of "formations" that can't be easily filed under human handiwork. With some designs having up to two thousand circles or shapes in their design alone, many have questioned if the more elaborate designs are in fact being made by perhaps something out of this world rather than humans, as some have appeared overnight and even during the daylight hours after the area has been visited. It has been proven that a simple "dumbbell" design, in which two circles are linked by a line between them, can take up to twelve hours to create by human hands in darkness.

Simple Dumbbell patterns such as this (from 2007) can take up to 12 hours to make by human hands.

Also, many have asked why many of the pattern formations don't seem to show any kind of trail from hoaxers accessing the fields, as many of the later formations were found no-where near roads or tracks, unlike the original singular circles. And could Bower and Chorley easily explain the now mounting evidence of formations being made all over the world, many of them being recorded prior to 1978? There is evidence that in some cases UFOs may be involved, with many unexplained lights being seen and then afterwards formations are found. In some cases, especially in the U.S., the discovery of crop circles have been made around the same time and area of cattle and animal mutilations. There is also many sightings of small orbs near newly formed formations, leading many to speculate the existence of Fey folk and their involvement. With this topic frustrating many researchers and scientists still today, what many agree on is that many hoaxers are responsible for many of the patterns and pictographs found. There is evidence however that not all cases are the result of compressed plants and that some kind of external, large heat source is creating them. Are we any closer to solving this enigma? What are your thoughts on crop circles?

Please post your comments below!

Matty Sweeney has written many articles for The Paranormal Guide and has a interest in all things mysterious and macabre. Many of his articles explore unsolved mysteries, cryptozoology and UFOlogy.

Matty resides in the Riverland, South Australia, a place with a few mysteries of its own...

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